Fall TV

It's officially fall now, and Texas is actually holding its State Fair this year. I've never been, and I'm certainly not going to start now while the pandemic continues. At least the summer heat has cooled somewhat, which in Texas just means 80s instead of 90s and 100s.

The TV season has started, and I liked the new Wonder Years with Dule Hill, but found Our Kind of People too soapy and over the top. The other new shows I'm interested in are coming in October or midseason. I recently found the BBC show Ghosts on HBO Max, and it's delightfully funny. CBS is making an American version that I hope will be funny too.

I've been watching Ken Burns's new Muhammad Ali documentary, and I enjoyed the beginning parts when he was known as Cassius Clay, but I start to like him less and less in later episodes. His charm and charisma can't cover for his faults such as cheating on his wives, and being blindly devoted to the Nation of Islam even when Elijah Muhammad suspended him and "revoked" his Muslim name. Ali did take a principled stand against the Vietnam War, of course, but his personal failings bother me, especially him having big fights funded by dictators in Zaire and the Philippines. Anyway, I also ended up watching the related One Night in Miami movie, based off the real night Ali spent with Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke. It tackles a lot of political and racial issues as the men debate what they ought to do to support civil rights and uplift other Black people.